Over 3,500 United States churches close their doors every year, and the attendance of more than 80 percent of those remaining has plateaued or is declining. Chester and Timms, Everyday Church

Tony Evans, Christ United Methodist Church

·         August 14, 2003

·         LaGuardia Airport

·         Standing curbside to get out luggage and leave.  Waiting in the hot summer sun for twenty minutes.  Walked up to the man and asked him if there was a problem.

·         “Yes, there was a power grid failure in Canada and it reached us.”

·         Caught in the black out of 2003

·         The later it got, the darker things got

·         Then there was an announcement: LaGuardia is closing down!  No one in and no one out

·         Proverbial dilemma; caught in a dark situation

·         Called my agent, “Sylvia, see if you can find us a hotel room”

·         Crown Plaza LaGuardia had one room left, but we had to reach it in 10 minutes, because everyone was looking for hotel rooms

·         We hailed a cab, there were no street lights, no power, utter darkness.

·         We walked into a candlelit hotel, handwritten registration, walked to our room by flashlight

·         We planned to go to sleep, hoping tomorrow would be a better day

·         And with as hot as it was in the summer, my wife decided to try and pull back the curtain to see if we could open the window

·         And across the street, the Marriott Hotel was all lit up!

·         We opened the window, we could hear music

·         How could this be!?

·         How could things be so dark, but so lit up?

·         Hot food, TV, joy, laughter, gaiety!  We made it across the street and I asked the Asst Mgr, “I don’t understand. Everyone except you!  Why?”

·         “We built this hotel with a gas generator, because we decided that what does on inside here doesn’t depend on the circumstances out there.”

·         Maybe for you things are getting dark, family, inner battles, and the light just won’t stay

·         Darkness pervades, an Ecclesiastes darkness

·         Sunday you’re in church everything great, but Monday—Monday rolls around and no one gets along

·         Jeremiah 29:11 NOT FOR YOUR CALAMITY, BUT A FUTURE, A HOPE

·         A well-lit verse in a very dark chapter

·         Jeremiah 4 You are in exile because of your sin, family, economics, all in disarray—a dark chapter

·         This particular season is dark, but there remains a well-lit chapter in a very dark book

·         Is there one chapter in your dark book tonight?  It’s still a good verse!

·         What is hope? Joyful expectation about the future; my tomorrow is going to be better than yesterday

·         Hope talks about the future. If you can look out and see a better tomorrow, you can make it!

·         Don’t spend your life in the rearview mirror. Where you’re going is a lot bigger than where you’ve been!

·         We’re living in a post-Christian era.

·         Modern day Babylonia.  Darkness sets in.

·         Don’t read verse 11 and skip 12 and 13!

·         When you search for Me with ALL of your heart…when He takes you south, it because the only way to go is UP; go left, He’ll take you left until you—His people—give Him undivided attention

·         Don’t look for the plan—look for ME!

·         Ever been to a pizzeria?!  A real life pizzeria with Italians?  They slam the bread, beat it, flatten it, and then twirl it on their fingers…until the dough is ready to receive the good stuff, the pepperoni, the sausage…as long as it’s lofty, you can’t get the good stuff

·         You need the illumination of His presence

·         You can’t get hope and leave God out

·         Dating my wife, she was moving a little slower than I wanted.  There was this ride at the fair called the Wild Mouse, it would take you and spin you and slam you and when you got off the ride it looked as if only one person had ridden.  I asked for two tickets.  Sometimes you got to create a situation to get what you’re looking for!

·         Labor is good news in a bad situation!  In labor, if the head isn’t facing the right direction, the doctor will go IN and turn the baby around, because you can’t have the baby until the head is in the right place, THEN WE CAN BE DELIVERED, but only when our head is in the right place!

·         LOOK FOR ME!  SEEK ME!

·         You go to a restaurant, you get a menu.  On this menu is a listing with a written description of what’s on the menu.  So good sometimes it makes you salivate.  Waiter gives you details…So you read it, you heard it, and you don’t say, “Let’s go!”  You didn’t come just to read and hear, but to experience!  You went for the experience of it!

·         When you’re looking for a job you have resumes and references.  You have a listing of what you’ve done and people who can talk about you.  Then you have an interview, because they want to see you for themselves.  He has 66 books worth of a resume.  In those 66 books he has thousands of references!  Want a relationship you can own, not a name to use!

·         14 I will be found b you and I will RESTORE your fortune

·         He will give back what you thought you lost

·         If you’ve lost your joy, He knows where it is!

·         If you’ve lost your family, He can renew it!

·         If you’ve lost your life, He raises the dead!

·         “I know how to give it back!”  And that is good news for the Gospel and a country in trouble

·         My wife…excellent cook.  She made a multitude of delicious things.  But only on Sunday.  Not on Monday.  But she’s the Tupperware Queen.  She took leftovers one time, added this, skimmed this, fixed this, and gave it a French name, and it tasted even better than it did on Sunday!  That’s what happens when your leftovers meet the hands of a master!

·         HE KNOWS HOW!

·         He can’t be an extra!

·         A man needs to take his family first to God, NOT AFTER EVERYTHING ELSE

·         “I can’t be an extra!”

·         Mother and daughter shopping in line.  They go down one aisle.  “Mom, can I please have some chocolate chip cookies?”  “No, you’ve had enough for this week.”  They go down the second aisle.  “Mom, please can I have some chocolate chip cookies?”  “I already told you no.”  They reach the third aisle.  “Mom, I NEED some chocolate chip cookies!”  “What you NEED is a spanking!  No!”  They reach the check-out line and the little girl puts her hands together and stands in the cart.  “Dear Jesus, earlier this week in school they taught us that You would fulfill all our needs…please show that You will meet my needs more than my mom and give me chocolate chip cookies!”  The women behind them in line said, “Why won’t that woman give her daughter chocolate chip cookies?!”  And the mom ran back and grabbed all the boxes of chocolate chip cookies she could…that’s where some of us are.  We’re in the check out line…  But you need to check up, before you check out.

Jamie Dear

Hi, Jamie, dear

This one’s for you

We wish you well in all you do

A love has passed, not meant to be

A new love certain, out there in destiny

One lovely day, he’ll walk your way

You’ll know it’s real as your heart reveals

So, Jamie, dear

In this big wide world

Your fellow’s there, and he is near

So, Jamie, dear

In this big wide world

Your fellow’s there, and he is near

So, keep the faith

And the dream will come true

‘Cause, Jamie, dear, he’s oh so near

Fred Willis

Lies

Describe the even that pushed your button—where you (over)reacted.  He slammed and locked his car door, and sped off, leaving me sobbing in a church parking lot. 

What were you thinking?  I need to fix this.

What was your first thought?  How can he not love me?

What was your next thought?  I need him.

What were you feeling?  Un-protected.  Dishonored.  Worthless.

When have you thought that or felt that way before?

·   When M left me for another girl.

·   When J had sex with another girl, but refused to have sex with me.

·   When R cheated on me with another girl.

·   When G shut down, because he was moving to FL.

·   When R told me he couldn’t be with anyone, but then signed up for online dating.

·   When M would leave immediately after every encounter.

·   When A never called back.

·   When D told me he didn’t love me.

·   When S hit me. 

Write these out.  Thoughts > Emotions > Behavior

·   She’s not even pretty!  I was jealous, betrayed, and hurt.  My behavior…I did everything I could to try and get him back.  To prove I was worth love.

·   She’s not even pretty.  He loved me and refused to have sex with her.  What’s wrong with me?  I thought about taking him back, just to be able to control him.

·   She’s not even pretty!  Angry.  Betrayed.  Determined.  I slept with him just to prove I was a better lover.

·   I’m not worth love.  Angry.  I ignored him.

·   I’m not worth love.  Angry.  Betrayed.  I called him a million times, went over to his house, and tried to show him I was worth loving.

·   I’m not funny or make enough money.  Forsaken.  Sad.  Angry.  I ignored him.

·   I’m not worth even a phone call.  Angry.  I ignored it.

·   I’m not worth love.  Sad.  Depressed.  I pulled away.

·   Even my own family can’t love me.  Angry.  I pulled away.

Based on these thoughts what does that say about you?  I’m easy to leave.  I feel like I’m not worthy of any kind of love, attention or affection.  I feel like I’m worthless and I either try to win them back to prove something to myself, or ignore them, because there is a part of me hoping they’ll realize what they left behind if I withhold.

What key words are you hearing?  (Similar words that are repeated, perhaps around a theme.)  Unworthy.  Abandoned.  Betrayed.  Shut down.

What message does the stronghold lie say about who you are?  (Summarize it to an “I am” statement.)  I am unworthy of love, but I need love to be happy, so I’ll never be happy.  People only love me to serve a selfish need and when that need has been met, I’m discarded.

What does this lie say about who God is to you or how He sees you?  God is selfish.  He doesn’t want to see me happy.  He doesn’t care about me.  He doesn’t care if I’m happy.  He doesn’t care if I’m ever loved by anyone.  God is selfish, and He’s the reason why I’ve been in all these failed relationships.  If God is love, and I’m not worthy of love, then how could He ever love me or let me be loved?  I am never going to be loved.  God is going to use me till there's nothing left.  My happiness doesn't matter.  And then he's going to discard me just like all the rest.

Forgiveness

·         Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32 

·         And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. Mark 11:25 

·         Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Colossians 3:13 

·         If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 

·         Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Matthew 5:7 

·         Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven. “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. Matthew 18:21-35 

·         And if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him. Luke 17:4 

·         Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven… Luke 6:37 

·         But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Matthew 5:39-41 

·         Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. James 5:16 

·         Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. Romans 12:17 

·         A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. John 13:34 

·         Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense. Proverbs 19:11

Undone: Hatred for Sin

This week Jonathan covered a more-than-appropriate topic for me.  Sin.  We are now three weeks into the Lent series.  This week’s focus on sin is a deeper step into finding out if we truly do belong to God—if we really believe.

Notes:

Christ City – Jonathan McIntosh – 3/27/11 – Undone: Hatred for Sin

Be killing sin or it will be killing you. John Owen

“And in my best behavior I am really just like him.  Look beneath the floorboards for the secrets I have hid.” Sufjan Stevens, John Wayne Gacy Jr.

Sin’s so bad—it’s a lie

It says we on the throne, tells God to retire

It says He ain’t enough

It says we want more

It says He ain’t just

It says He ain’t Lord

Sin is the laugh at his power

The rape of His mercy

The mock of His patience

It says He ain’t worthy

– Lecrae

Consider what ways, what companies, what opportunities, what studies, what businesses, what conditions, have at any time given, or do usually give advantages to your distempers, and set yourself heedfully against them all…Know he that dares to dally with occasions of sin will dare to sin. John Owen

Romans 7:15-8:8; 8:12-13

Are you using religion as a mask?

Their lives aren’t changed.

Mortification – to put to death.

Does my heart live up to this…?

1.      Christians sin and they own it

          “I’m not them…I’m different.”

          Thinking/Doing

          Hating/Murdering

          You’ve had a million affairs in your heart, cradled and held onto bitterness

          Greed, gossip, idolatry; we love comfort, power, fame, approval more than Jesus

          1 John 1:8-10

2.      Christians don’t want to sin

          (18) …the desire to do what is right

          “distaste for sin”

3.      Christians delight in the law of God

          (22) It’s got to sweeten your heart that God knows what He’s doing and hand over trust.

          I’ve been forgiven, set free, but the scars are still on my heart.

4.      Desperate in their fight against sin

          (24) Desperately want to break free

          If you’re not fighting it anymore…you’re not a follower

5.      Knowledge you’ve been set free

6.      Christians set their minds on things of the Spirit (5)

          Gal 5:17 I’m going to feed righteous desires…set my mind, heart, and will

Know your boundaries and temptations—know what tempts you towards that sin!

 Don’t go to Temptation Island!

“Yeah, we slept together again last night.”

“Dude, she’s spending the night over at your place the last week.  What did you think was going to happen?”

(H)unger

(A)nger

(L)oneliness

(T)ired

These are when you’re most tempted—know your triggers!

Undone: Love for Christ

Last week we started the Lent series at Christ City.  Last week’s sermon was terribly convicting, opening our eyes to the truth that we may not really be of God.  This one followed up with information for us, pinpointing how we could better know if we were.  I really have enjoyed visiting Christ City and definitely felt called and compelled to come back this week.

Notes:

Christ City – Jonathan McIntosh – 3/20/11 – Undone: Love for Christ

“If only we could be a bit more like Him, the world would be transformed…When I look at the Cross of Christ, what I see up there is all my s—t and everybody else’s.  So I ask myself a question a lot of people have asked: Who is this man?  And was he who he said he was, or was he just a religious nut?  And there it is, and that’s the question.  And no one can talk you into it or out of it.” Bono, U2

“If Jesus Christ were to come today, people would not even crucify him.  They would ask him to dinner, and hear what he had to say, and make fun of it.” Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881)

“How can you live with the terrifying thought that the hurricane has become human, that the fire has become flesh, that Life itself came to life and walked in our midst?  Christianity either means that, or it means nothing. It is either the more devastating disclosure of the deepest reality in the world, or it’s a sham, a nonsense, a bit of deceitful play-acting.  Most of us, unable to cope with saying either of those things, condemn ourselves to live in the shallow world in between.” NT Wright

In this you rejoice, though now for a  little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested geniuneness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  Though you have no seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.  

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesies about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.  It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angles long to look.

1 Peter 1:6-12

What are the marks of an authentic  Christian?

David Kresh – making his own religion?

Jonathan Edwards, True Christianity

Letter of 1 John

1.       A love for Christ (not just respect)

2.       Hatred for sin

3.       Love for God’s word

4.       Love for truth and the things of God

5.       Love for others (you cannot hate your brother)

You must…

1.       Believe He’s real

a.        John 20:27-29, Doubting Thomas

b.      Jesus seminar – Anne Rice, a well-known author, wrote about vampires, then became a Christian and wrote about Jesus

c.       In the Bible, there are:

                                                               i.      Unneeded details (It was written Jesus sat on a cushion in the boat.  Why is this detail necessary?  Authors now input details in their stories to make you feel like you’re there.  How could they have predicted this writing style back then?  Surely, it was more record-keeping than it was anything else.)

                                                             ii.      Specific names (People were still alive when these stories came out.  They could have easily said, ‘No, this didn’t happen,’ and it would have instantly been squashed.)

                                                            iii.      Too counter-productive (It was a woman who first saw Jesus after the resurrection; why would they say that if it weren’t true?  Women weren’t respected at all.  Peter is a bumbling fool and he denies Christ three times; why would they include him?)

2.       Believe He was who He said He was

a.       The key is to understand prophecy

b.      These things were written 700 years before Jesus

                                                               i.      Isaiah 7:14 – Therefore the Lord himself will give ou a sign.  Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

                                                             ii.      Malachi 3:1 – Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me.  And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is come, says the Lord of hosts.

                                                            iii.      Micah 5:2 – But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from the ancient days.

3.       Believe that He’s valuable

a.       When we get the mess knocked out of us is when it’s revealed what we really know.

b.      He’s invaluable.

c.       They were in it to manipulate God.

d.      What gives you the authentic power to cling to Christ?

Verse 10: Prophets and angels are concerned about your salvation.

I cannot make myself right…

Hell is being cosmically ignored by God.  Yikes!  Jesus endured that, so that GRACE could come to us.

If I believed He died for me, things really do change.

If I believe this, let it truly impact my heart.

If I believe it, it should impact our hearts.

Make Your home in my heart.

Is He at the center?  If not, maybe you’re just playing a game.  He is a constant, constantly affecting the way you live your life, because you are living it for Him.